It's a lot colder today as we walk over the rocky shore to Sheldoe. It's just Marc, Vernicia, and me. It's a good thing the bubble tanker worked, otherwise I'd be even more miserable. Not that I doubted its airtightness in the first place. Verni in particular looks extra-happy, for some reason.
"Hmm…" Marc plucks at his sweater. "I feel kind of naked without armor."
"What? You have solid metal plates covering your skin, what are you on about," I reply. Though now that I recall, battle armor was the only thing I've ever seen him wear before now. With his current getup, I can almost mistake him for a normal human.
"Hmph. I'm more normal a human than you," he mutters.
"My claim still stands."
As we walk south along Sheldoe's boardwalk, I can see people in the water, even though the temperature shouldn't allow for it. Honestly, what are those people thinking? Surely at least a couple of them will die in such conditions. It nearly killed me during our first subzero ops session when I was little.
Marc leans over to me. "They're wearing wetsuits, you know."
"What?"
"Wetsuits. You haven't…?" Marc stops for a second. "They're basically skysuits, but for water. These people are equipped for it."
"Wetsuits… I see," I mutter. "So they underwent intensive training as well?"
Marc shrugs. "Something like that."
"Anyone have a plan yet for tracking down Cryos?" Vernicia walks up to us, holding two half-eaten slushpops.
"Not yet," I sigh. "But I feel like we should be used to this by now."
"How about the Seaburgs," Marc suggests.
"Please no," I promptly reply. "Honestly, I'm sick of being underwater. Plus, we'd have to backtrack south, and take that route through the no-man's land…"
"What are you talking about? There's an aquarail stop right over there." Marc points to my right – SHELDOE CENTRAL CONNECTION.
"Friccing Jim," I mutter. "What did he make us take the long way for… you know what, I have a better idea!" I start walking towards the station. "We'll meet up with Monty Kekuro."
"Oh, rad," Vernicia says. "Is it true he can divine the future?"
"Sort of?" I try to find the right words but come up blank. "Let's just go to him, then you can see for yourself."
"What if he sends us to the Seaburgs?" Marc casually asks.
"Then I'll dropkick you," I growl, "because you jinxed it!"
Sheldoe's station, true to its name, connects both the aquarail and the city rail. After about ten minutes, we arrive at Chandonis, getting off near the suburban area where Kekuro lives.
When we arrive, the door opens by itself again. Monty Kekuro is standing over the table, which is covered in shopping bags.
"Hello," he says. "A small mage convention was held in this city yesterday. I've heard that the official gathering at Island Rock is way better, but at present it's quite out of my range. I'm sure you'd appreciate it, Marc; what with your latent mind scan and unusual modifications."
Marc stiffens. "He IS psychic!"
"The proper term is psycho-adept," I smugly tell him.
"Hey, hey, if a bunch of magic people get together, will the place explode?" Vernicia asks.
"A common myth, with a rather complicated answer," Kekuro replies. "Simply put, it can happen, but it most likely won't."
"Ahem! Monty Kekuro, we need your help again," I say. "We're looking for someone called Cryos, but we're kind of stuck right now."
"Well, I'm no oracle, but I can take a look for you," he nods, sitting down.
"Uhm, we don't need tea again, do we?" I ask.
"Perhaps not this time." He closes his eyes for a moment. "Hmm… hmm? Normally, if you give me a name, I can trace it to their general location for you, but… it feels like this Cryos fellow is deliberately being hidden. That, or you simply haven't met anyone related to him before. It's also possible Cryos isn't his real name."
"Ugh, that sounds about right," I sigh. Then I get an idea.
Marc gives me a funky look. But before he can say anything, I say it: "If you don't know where we should go, can you tell us where we shouldn't go?"
Kekuro raises his eyebrows, and Marc sighs.
"Hmm… might as well give it a shot," Kekuro decides, pulling out some kind of beacon. "Give me a moment."
I sit still, staring intently.
"The… house of water," Kekuro begins, "will soon be sealed once again. I suggest you vacate it so it does not become a tomb." He moves his beacon thing around, then it flashes again. "I see… as for your other traced locales, the one you seek is not in the undersea abodes. Not the house of fire… or the city of dreams… or the house of steel. That leaves… the place you call home," Kekuro finishes.
"You can't mean our safe house?" I furrow my brow. "Really?"
"It makes sense, actually," Vernicia nods. "If only Joseph dealt with him, then maybe there was something we missed."
"Well, it's something," I shrug. "Thanks for the help, monty."
"Always a pleasure," Kekuro jovially replies. "Until next time."
As we walk back into the city, I call the submarine mansion's frequency on my gauntlet. Beep, beep.
Rurin answers: "What's up? You guys done out there? Once Janine comes back, we'll have fresh calamari."
"Aw, man," I mutter.
"Wait, is there a problem? Are you guys in danger?"
"You guys are," I reply. "All of you need to vacate the mansion as soon as you can. We'll meet up at our old safe house."
"So you did find a lead?"
"I sure hope it's a lead if we're heading back to the badlands," I grumble. "Oh, and make sure the aquanauts jet, too. Apparently the mansion is gonna be re-sealed."
"I told you I wasn't seeing things," Ana's voice yells. "That boat was from Metacorp!"
"Right. We'll meet you there, then," Rurin says. Then we disconnect.
"Looks like we're coming full circle," I sigh. "Hopefully this means we're close."
We continue through the city. Marc seems to be looking for something, while Vernicia is leafing through a copy of The Coastlands Tribune.
"Breaking: Tasmil is closed due to a devastating accident in one of their storage units," Vernicia reads. "I assume that was your doing?"
"Yep," I nod.
"Team Chandonis defeated Team Norvind in last week's whopperball tournament finals," Vernicia continues. "And… following retrofits, the north section of the national rail has reopened for public use, allowing for easy civilian travel to Cityblock City."
"Norvind is another of those coastal cities, yeah?" I recall. "I don't remember any Cityblock, though."
"It's the capital of Aridovia, almost 8000 kiloms from Chandonis," Marc supplies. "The national rail is the only way anyone can realistically get there from here."
"You mean Ridgeside Station? Says here they've opened a new restaurant there by popular demand," Vernicia says, flipping to another page.
"Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen you this…" I gesture vaguely. "What is this, bubbly? Giddy? Kinda bouncy maybe."
Vernicia blushes, closing her paper. "It's… um, I've just always wanted to travel the world, you know? And attend sporting events. And go mall hopping. You know, non-mission things."
"Travel, huh…" I twirl a ponytail. "I wonder how big the world is."
"Once we take down these bad guys, I'll explore it, country by country," Verni resolves. "I bet I'll have a bucket list and everything by then."
Marc sighs. "This could be a problem…"
"What?" I look over at him. "You forget something?"
"No…" he shakes his head. "I think someone stole my Tetrider. It wasn't where I left it, and I had it camouflaged and everything."
I try and fail to hold back a chortle. "Ahem! Sorry. You gonna take the rail?"
"It doesn't go past the great ridge," he replies, then sighs again. "You know what, just carry me. I'll bear with it."
"Suit yourself," I shrug.